Аннотация:We studied the rates of calcite precipitation on the surface of the particles in various North Sea chalk samples, using the constant composition method for supersaturation states ranging from 2.4 to 4.5, at pH = 8.5. The rates of calcite precipitation on the chalk surfaces are much lower than on pure calcite surfaces. The dependence of calcite precipitation rate on supersaturation does not obey the parabolic law, which is characteristic for calcite growth. Instead, the dependence was exponential, which indicates surface nucleation mediated growth. To gain better understanding about the interactions that occur at the chalk surface we determined the ζ - potential for the chalk samples. Our results show that the specific adsorption is the main reason for strong inhibition of calcite precipitation by the polysaccharides and certain other organic compounds. So, the presence of organic compounds has an important influence on recrystallisation kinetics so along with other possible causes of inhibition, the mechanism of calcite precipitation is a factor in the extremely low rates of the chalk recrystallization.